In so-called "woodwind" musical instruments, such as flutes, clarinettes, saxophones, oboes, and bassoons, and which need not be made of wood, a column of air is set in vibration inside a hollow tubular body which is generally of circular section. A player varies the pitch of the note emitted by the instrument by varying the length of the column of air vibrating inside the instrument. This is done by opening and closing tone orifices which are distributed along the length of the instrument.
Closing the orifices obviously presents a sealing problem.
Sealing pads are thus included in the keys. The pads must avoid creating interfering noises when the orifices are closed. They must also be both flexible and firm so that the player can feel that an orifice is properly closed without having to press down too hard on the key.
In the prior art, the pads used are generally flat and made of felt covered in a skin, and although they perform all these functions, they nevertheless present drawbacks.
They are sensitive to damp and to ageing which deteriorate their airtightness.
These drawbacks have been avoided by using flexible sealing pads made of elastomer. One known pad comprises a flexible sealing disk mounted between two rigid metal washers themselves supported on a flexible column which enables the pad assembly to tilt slightly in order to close an orifice in an instrument. However, this type of pad requires specially constructed keys and cannot replace a worn felt and skin pad on an existing key. Further, the presence of the flexible column in the middle of the key means that this type of pad cannot be used for pierced keys.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention thus provide a flexible sealing pad which ensures good airtightness, which is firm so that closure is easy to feel, and which is insensitive to damp and to ageing.
Further, the pad can be fitted to existing keys which have previously been fitted with a felt and skin pad, and is thus interchangeable with a felt and skin pad.